BCE-Astral: CRTC could rehear deal, chairman Jean-Pierre Blais says

Whether it amounts to an altered decision on the $3.38-billion offer — which was rejected by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on Oct. 18 – or whether a new offer from BCE will be filed, is anything but certain.

“We’re an administrative tribunal, we can’t refuse to hear things that are brought to us,” Mr. Blais, the newly installed head of the CRTC, said in an interview.

The message is, if companies come to the CRTC to have transactions approved, they should come with a case that the application meets the burden of proof

The chairman was speaking from a technical standpoint — the commission is bound to assess any transaction brought before it for approval. Mr. Blais, who is busily attempting to recast the CRTC in a more consumer-focused light, said any deal brought before the commission under his watch will have to show a greater consideration for all Canadians, not just shareholders.

“The message is, if companies come to the CRTC to have transactions approved, they should come with a case that the application meets the burden of proof,” said Mr. Blais, who was appointed in June.

“In the end, it came down to the burden of proof was to the applicant [BCE] and they didn’t meet it.”

Mr. Blais stunned the country’s largest telecommunications and media conglomerate as well as market watchers two weeks ago by effectively killing the merger on the grounds that it gave BCE’s Bell Media unit too much market power in industries like television and radio.

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The concentration of assets under Bell would lead to higher prices for consumers while potentially leading to lengthy disputes between Bell and its competitors, analysts says.

BCE filed a petition with the federal cabinet a week ago imploring the government to issue a directive to the regulator under section 7 of the Broadcast Act telling the CRTC to strictly abide by rules set in previous rulings. The company argues the commission has strayed in the decision.

BCE executives also contend the decision was unfairly influenced by competitors like Quebecor Inc., which lobbied Mr. Blais heavily in the weeks leading up to the surprise ruling.
The interview with Mr. Blais followed an address at an industry conference here that set out the chairman’s vision for the regulator for the next several years.

The BCE rejection, combined with broader efforts to put consumers at the “centre” of the commission’s decision-making, marks a shift at the CRTC, observers said.

Mr. Blais elaborated on new efforts to engage with Canadians more than the regulator has previously, actively courting their presence during public proceedings such as the upcoming CBC licence renewal hearings, as well as making it easier for consumers to access CRTC data through a redesigned Website.

“I want Canadians to be part of our hearings. It makes it really difficult to make decisions that include them if they don’t come and tell us what they think,” he said.

Asked if the new initiatives — and tone in general being sent by the CRTC — risked alienating the commission from market players, Mr. Blais said, “We’re putting Canadians back at the centre, but our goal is not to alienate anyone. In fact, serving Canadians is a mission we share with the industry.

“I think that is the message to the industry, that they should be thinking like we will be, about Canadians. It’s in their best interests.”